British Catholic press refuses to run ad for Catholic Action Group

London, England, Feb 10, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The United Kingdom’s leading Catholic newspaper, The Universe, refused to run a generic ad for the Catholic Action Group yesterday “on the grounds that it could not promote any group that openly advised priests,” said a Catholic Action Group press release.
The organization recently launched a campaign to boycott the Catholic British development organization, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), after it suggested that condoms might be an acceptable means to curb the AIDS problem in developing countries in certain circumstances.

The Catholic Action Group advised some priests to boycott the development agency following a recent article in The Tablet and another in the Guardian, which inferred that England’s bishops could not agree on whether to support CAFOD’s policy.

The Catholic Action Group has argued that the only official Vatican document on condoms is Humane Vitae, issued in the late 1960s. All recent comments by the Pope affirm this document as official Catholic teaching, despite the dissent of some bishops.

As a result of The Universe’s decision, the Catholic Action Group has decided to advertise in the secular press.

The Catholic Action Group will begin the mailing for its campaign Monday. CAFOD has already contacted parish priests as a pre-emptive action.